School Notes: School of Art
September/October 2018

Performance/installation artist joins sculpture faculty

Aki Sasamoto has been appointed assistant professor in sculpture at Yale School of Art. Her work is positioned at the intersection of performance and sculpture, where she creates object scenarios out of narratives and actions. Dean Marta Kuzma notes: “Aki Sasamoto’s appointment to the tenure-track faculty of the school reflects our commitment to providing to students a wide range of perspectives, including non-Western influences with respect to the body and identity. Additionally, as a teacher and an artist, Sasamoto further contributes to the rich dialogue between performance, sculpture, and installation as developed since 2012 by Martin Kersels, professor and director of graduate studies in sculpture.” Professor Kersels adds: “Aki will perfectly fit in with Yale sculpture and the wide-ranging interests of its graduate students. Her vital enthusiasm and eclectic sensibilities will only add to the already dynamic energy and breadth of the program.”

Yale alumni artists to lead 2019 Norfolk Summer School

Artists Byron Kim ’83 and Lisa Sigal ’90MFA have been appointed codirectors of the Yale Norfolk Summer School of Art for 2019. Kim and Sigal assume the directorship from Samuel Messer ’82MFA, adjunct professor at Yale School of Art and former associate dean, who directed the summer program at Norfolk for
20 years.

The new directors plan to preserve and develop the Yale Norfolk Summer School of Art as a sustainable summer residency art program for undergraduate rising seniors, while also building a public program that reflects Dean Marta Kuzma’s vision for the Yale School of Art. With the theme “The Ethics of Color,” the summer program will present a series of lectures covering divergent topics such as the colors that industry has produced, the colors of bodies, color as a material witness to disaster, and the colors of art itself.

Established in 1948, the Yale Norfolk Summer School of Art is the preeminent undergraduate summer art residency in the United States.